Alarm clock



May 2, 1933.

A. W. HAYDN ALARM" CLOCK Filed OG'C. 14: 1931 Patented May 2, 1933 l UNIT) STATES PATENT OFFICE ARTHUR W. HAYDON, F WA'ERBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR T0 WATER-BURY CLOCK COMPANY, 0F WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION ALARM CLOCK Application filed October 14, 1831.

This invention relates to an improvement in alarm clocks, and particularly to the manually-operable alarm shut-ofil feature of such clocks.

Une of the main objects of my present invention is to provide a simple and reliable, manually-operable, shut-olf mechanism for alarm clocks constructed with particular referenoe to superior convenience and facility of use.

With the above and other objects in view as will appear from the following, my invention consists in an alarm clock having certain features of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts as will be hereinafter described and particularly recited in the claims.

1n the accompanying drawing:

Fig. l is a View in rear elevation of an alarm clock movement constructed in accordance with my invention, certain of the geartrains not directly'related to my invention beingomitted for clarity of illustration;

Fig. 2 vis a broken transverse sectional view thereof taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1 but on a larger scale and showing the parts in the positions which they assume when the alarm is being sounded;

Fig. 3 is a corresponding view showing the parts in the positions which they assume afterthe alarm has been manually shut olf;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the alarmset sleeve detached;

Fig. 6 is a corresponding view of the alarm-shut-off plunger;

Fig. 7 is a similar `View of the alarm-set pointer; and

Fig. 8 is a broken detail View showing` the normal position of the guard-plate with respect to the notch in the alarnrcam.

For the purpose of illustrating my invention, I have herein chosen to show and describe an electric alarm, though my invention is adapted for use in other types of alarm clocks, such, for instance, as the well-known spring-driven alarm- The particular clock herein chosen for the illustration of my invention includes, as

Serial No. 568,731.

shown, a front plate 10, a back plate 11 and pillars 12 interconnecting the. said platesl Secured to the rear face of the front plate and rearwardly oifsettng therefrom is a substantially U-shaped bracket 13 in the vertical reach 14 of which is supported with capacity for rotary movement the reduced inner end 15 of an alarm-set sleeve 16.

Rigidly mounted upon the forward end of the alarm-set sleeve 16 is a cam-disk 17 provided with a radially-projeeting cam-finger 18 coacting in the usual manner of alarm clocks with a sleeve-like annular cam 19 concentrically otlsetting from the rear end of a cam-member 20. Inter-posed between the rear face of the cam-disk 17 and the forward face of the vertical reach 14 of the bracket 13 is a spacing-washer 21 which is held in frictional engagement with the said Vertical reach by a cup-shaped spring-Washer 22 mounted upon the sleeve 16 and bearing against the rear face of the vertical reach 14 before referred to.

The rear end of the alarm-set sleeve 16 projects through a sheet-metal bushing 23 mounted in an inwardly-depressed portion 24 of the back plate 11 and serves to clamp in place therein an alarm-set dial 25. The dial 25 just referred to is swept by an alarm-set pointer 26 provided at its inner end with an elongated opening 27 adapted to lit over a pair of externally-threaded lugs 28-28 formed upon the extreme rear end of the alarm-set sleeve 16 and by means of which the said pointer is rigidly coupled to the said sleeve against relative rotary movement.

Threaded 'upon the lugs 28-28 of the sleeve 16 is an alarm-set finger-button 29, the forward face of which abuts against the adjacent face of the pointer 26 so as to clamp the same against the rear face of the sleeve 16 adjacent the respective bases of the lugs 28-28, and prevent its axial separation therefrom.

Mounted with capacity for both rotary and reciprocating movement within an axial bore formed within the alarm-set sleeve 16 is an alarin-shut-oflr1 plunger 31 which is re-l duced in diameter and flattened off at its respective opposite sides to provide a relatively-slender rearwardly-extending stem 32 rojecting rearwardly beyond the alarm-set utton 29 and having staked or otherwise secured to its rear end a shut-olf button 33.

Between the body-portion proper of the plunger 31 and its stem 32 I form a tang 34 of elongated polygonal form in cross-section and substantially corresponding in width to the width of the opening 27 in the alarm-set l0 pointer 26 throu which it normally pro- ]ects, as clearly s own in Fig. 2 of the drawing. The junction-point of the tang 34 and the relatively-slender stem 32 results in the formation of complementary latching-shoulders 35-35 which are adapted to be engaged with the forward face of the pointer 26 adjacent the respective o posite sides of its ning 27 when the p unger is moved inward and rotated substantially a quarteriQ turn for the. purpose of holding` the alarmmechanism in its shut-oil position, as will hereinafter appear.

Encirelng the stem 32 of the plunger 31 and interposed between the finger-button 33 2Q thereof and a washer 36 resting against the rear facel of the finger-button 29 is a helical spring 37 which exerts a constant e'ort to more the said shutoff plunger 31, together with its finger-button 33, rearwardly into its retired position.

The cam-member before referred to is staked oar otherwise rigidly secured to an alam-shaft 38 bearing at its rear end in the setting-sleeve 16 and bearing adjacent its fordi ward end in the front plate 10 with capacity for both rotary and axial movement. Encircling the shaft 38 and interposed between the front plate 10 and the cam-member 20 is a helical spring 39 exerting a constant effort Q tumore the said shaft and its associated parts rearwardly.

Rpgidly mounted upon the extreme forward end of the shaft 38 is a gear-wheel 40 meshing into and driven by a dial-pinion 41 Q forming a feature of the usual dial-work of a clock. For the purpose of clarity, the entire time-train of the clock has not been shown, but it is believed suicient for the rpose of illustrating my invention that n e dial-work of which the pinion 41 forms a part is suicient to represent the time-train.

which in itself forms no part of my present invention and may be of any approved type, such for instance, as an escapement time- Il train or a synchronous electric time-train.

The geur-wheel is preferably formed of Bbw or other suitable insulating material and carries upon its inner face a washer-like contact-disk 42 adapted, when the parts are l in the positions in which they are shown in Fig. 2, to close an electric circuit between tno complementary resilient contact-fingers 43-and 44. The contact-linger 43 is connected by means of n wire 45- to a buzzer 45* or any 8i other desired type of signal device, which is diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawing. The contact 44 is connected by means of a wire 46 to a line-wire 47, the complementary line-wire 48 of which is connected by a w1re 49 to the buzzer 45,

For the purpose of releasably holding the cam-linger 18 from reenterin the notch 50 in the cam 19 after it has een manually separated therefrom, as will hereinafter appear, I employ a guard-plate 51 having a portion 52 normally overlapping the said notch in the cam 19 and eld upon the cam-member 2O with capacity for outward rocking movement by means of a helical spring 53 located in an annular groove 54 in the said cam-member and attached at its respective opposite ends to the said guardplate. The guardlate feature 51 just referred to is more ull Y illustrated and described in my co-pen ing application filed in even date herewith and bearing Serial Number 568,733.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the gear-wheel 40, together with its shaft 38 and cam-member 20, will be continuouslyv rotated by the time-train of the clock represented by the dial-work and acting through the dial-pinion 41. Hence, inthe usual manner of alam-mechanisms, when in the rotation of the cam 19, the notch 50 thereof is brought into ali ment with the normallystationary camnger 18, the cam-member 20, shaft 38, wheel 40 and' contact-disk 42, will be permitted to sna rearwardly as a unit under the urge of tlie s rin 39, with the effect of engaging the sai dis with the complementary contacts 43 and 44 to close the circuit therebetween and thus ener ize the buzzer 45 or other suitable electrica signal device.

The manual shut-olf of the alarm subject to subsequent automatic release, may be effected by merely thrusting inward upon the inger-button 33 with the effect of causingk the plunger 31 to bodily move the shaft 38 forwardly together with the parts carried thereby, with the effect of permiting the guardlate 51 to swing inwardly under the urge o its spring 53 beneath the cam-finger 18, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing, to thus hold the contact-disk 42 out of engagement with the contacts 43 and 44 until such time as the alarm-mechanism is again. automatically released.

In due time the rotation of the cam 19 with respect to the cam-nger 18 will cause the guard-plate 51 carried by the cam-member 20 to be tilted outwardly into a clearance position, so that the said cam-finger may again enter the cam-notch 50 after the lapse of a predetermined interval.

If it is desired to latch the alarm-mechanism in its alarm-shut-o position, so that the same will not be automatically released, this purpose may be accomplished by manu-- ally thrusting the alarm-shut-off plunger' 3l forwardly until its latching-shoulders -35 are forward of the inner face of the pointer 26, at which time a quarter-turn upon the said plunger will bring the said latchingshoulders into the positions in which they are shown in Fig. 3, in which they are engaged with the forward face of the pointer 26 on either side of the elongated opening 27 therein. At any time that it may be desired to restore the alarm-mechanism to action, the plunger 3l may be rotated to align its polygonal tang 34 with the elongated opening 27 in the pointer 26, at which time the spring 37 will move the said plunger rearwardly into its retired position from the position in which it is shown in Fig. 3 to the position in which it is shown in Fig. 2.

The novel arrangements of parts in which the alarm-set pointer 26 is utilized to coact with the alarm-shut-oiil plunger 3l to hold the latter in its alarm-shut-o position provides a simple and eii'ective mechanism possessing marked advantages over mechanisms of the prior art. Furthermore, by concentrically mounting the alarm-set means with the alarm-shut-od means, great convenience and facility of operation is aii'orded the user.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that my invention may assume varied physical forms without departing from my inventive concept, and I, therefore, do not limit myself to the specific embodiment herein chosen for illustration, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. The combination with a time-train; of an alarm device; an alarm-control mechanism controlled in turn by the said time-train for periodically effecting the automatic release of the said alarm device; a normallystationary manually-rotatable alarm-set member having an axial passage therethrough and operatively connected to the said alarm-control mechanism for adjusting the same to release the said alarm device at a desired time; and a manually-operable reciprocating alarm-shut-off member entending through the axial passage in the said manually-rotatable alarm-set member into operative relationship to the said alarm-control mechanism for moving the same into its alarm-shut-of position.

2. The combination with a time-train; of an alarm device; an alarm-control mechanism controlled in turn by the said time-train for periodically effecting the automatic release of the said alarm device; al manuallyrotatable alarm-set member having an axial passage therethrough and provided with a latching-abutment, and operatively connected to the said alarm-control mechanism for adjusting the same; and a manually-operable alarm-shutoff member extending through the axial passage in the said alarm-set member with capacity-for bothreciprocating and rotary movement therein, and into operative relationship to the said ala rin-control mechanism for moving the same into its alarmshut-ofi' position and carrying a latchingmountedupon the said alarm-set member and l I provided with an elongated opening registering with the passage in the latter; and a manually-operable alarm-shut-oi'f ymember extending through the axial passage in the said alarm-set member and through the elongated opening in the said alarm-set pointer with capacity for both'rotary and reciprocating movement therein, and into operative reiations ip to the said alarm-control mechanism lor moving the same into its oil' position and provided with a latchingabutment positioned for engagement with the inner face of the said pointer adjacent the narrow side of the opening therein when the alarm-shut-oif member is rotated with respect to the said alarm-set member.

The combination with a time-train; of an alarm device; an alarm-control mechanism controlled in turn-by the said time-train for periodically effecting the automatic release L` of the sai-dalarm device; a manually-rotatable alarm-set sleeve having an axial passage therethrough and operatively connected to the said alarm-control mechanism for adjusting the same, and provided` at its outer end with a pair of lugs located on opposite sides of the axial passage therein; an alarm-set pointer provided with an elongated opening adapted to receive the lugs vupon the said alarm-set sleeve and to register with the. axial passage therein; and a rotatable and reciprocating alarm-shut-ofiq plunger extending throughthe axial passage in the said alarmset member and through the elongated opening in the said alarm-set pointer into operative relationshipA to thefsaid alarm-control mechanism for moving the same into its alarm-shutoff position and provided with a latching-abutment positioned for engagealarm-shutment with the inner face'of the said pointer J adjacent the narrow side of the opening therein when the alarm-shut-ofl member is rotated with respect to the said alarm-set member.

5. The combination with a time-train; of an alarm device;- an alarm-control mechanien! controlled in turn by the said timetrail for periodically effecting the automatic release of the said alarm device; a rotary aina-set sleeve having an axial passage `#therethrough and operatively connected. to the said alarmfcontrol mechanmi for adjusting the some and provided at its outer end with a pair of lugs located on opposite sides of the axial passage therein; an a ar l? set pointer provided with an elongated openingadapted to receive the lugs upon the said alarm-set sleeve and to register with the axial i therein; a manually-operable alarmsetbu .i i having a passage therethrough and .1,5 adapted to be engaged with the lugs upon the said alarm-set sleeve for clam ing the said pointer in piace upon the sai sleeve; and a rotatable and reciprocating alarm-shuto' plunger extending through the said alarmn set button, alarm-set pointer and alarm-set sleeve into operative relationship with the said alarm-control mechanism for moving the same into its alarm-shut-o position and provided with a latching-abutment positioned for engagement with the inner face of the said ointer adjacent the narrow side of the opening therein when the alarm-shut-oi member is rotated with respect to the said alarm-set member.

l 6. The combination with a time-train; of an alarm device; an alarm-control mechanism controlled in turn by the said time-train for periodically eecting the release of the said alarm device; a normally-stationary manuals ly-operable alarm-set member operatively connected to the said alarm-control mechanism for adjusting the same to release the said darm device at a desired time; and a manually-operable aIenn-shn't-o member ex- 4 tending into operative relationshipfto the said alarm-contrni mechanism for movingthe same into its alarm-shutoff position; the said means being arranged coaxially and one the'ofvbeing provided with an' axiai passage through which the other of said members extends for relative movement therein.

T. The combination with a time-train; of en alarm device an A:darm-control mechanism controlled in turn by the said time-train for 5 periodically ei'ecting the release' of the said alarm device; a normally-stationary manual- -operable alarm-set member having an axiai passage therethrough and operatively connetzteil'l to the said alarm-control mechanism s adfusting the same to release the said alarm device at a desired time; and a manwall4 l-operabie alarm-shutoff member exten ng' through and movable in the axial passage inthe said manually-operable alarmset member into operative relationship to the said alarm-control mechanism for moving the same nt'o its alarm-shutoff position.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification; y ARTHUR W. HAYDON. 

